Israel Asks Arabs to Cooperate in Suppressing Narcotics Traffic

May 12, 1960

GENEVA (May. 11)

Israel called today for cooperation from the authorities in the surrounding Arab states in controlling the illegal traffic in narcotics in the Middle East.

Voicing objection to a report to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs submitted here by the Middle East Narcotics Survey Mission, Menahem Kahany, Israel’s observer on the Commission, said that he could not approve the report because it dismissed the absence of Arab-Israel cooperation on narcotics, asserting that this was due to a “political” reason which, according to the report, was “beyond the scope of the Mission to comment on.”

Mr. Kahany said that political considerations should not prevent technical cooperation of police officers, “If the Arab countries boycott Israel,” he declared, “the same is not true as far as traffickers are concerned,’ He suggested that better control would benefit all interested countries.